National Grid: Undertaking an internal communication measurement programme
Background and objectives
National Grid is an international electricity and gas company employing over 27,000 people in the UK and US. In 2007, the company undertook a strategic review of its internal communication function which resulted in some important changes to its role and structure. To assess performance of the function and to help determine future priorities, National Grid established an internal communication measurement programme and asked Ibis Communication to set up and help run it.
Approach
The starting point was to identify the factors against which success could be measured. These divided into two areas: understanding of and engagement with the company’s vision and strategy and the value and performance of each of the main communication channels. We then broke down these broad domains into specific measurement criteria such as understanding of the vision statement.
To gather the insight, we deployed two complementary methodologies:
- A quarterly survey in which a sample of employees from across the company were invited to participate. The survey was available online and sent to field-based employees as a printed questionnaire.
- A quarterly round of focus groups following each survey in which results were explored in greater detail and other discussion points not included in the survey introduced.
The results from both approaches were reported in a consistent manner with headline findings transferred to an internal communication dashboard.
Results
By the end of 2008, we had completed three rounds of research, enough to establish a clear picture of current opinion and a trend line measuring progress over time for all key indicators. The results have been shared with both the communications team and the wider business and were used to shape priorities and direct investment and resource where it is most needed.